Condition A can be met in either of two ways. Either the company met each of four requirements at the date of disposal of its shares or, alternatively if it did not meet any of those requirements, it ceased to do so not more than three years before the date of disposal. If the second method of meeting the condition is in point then the company must satisfy certain further conditions between the time it ceased to meet all the requirements and the time of the disposal. This guidance looks at each of the four requirements in turn and then considers the further conditions applicable to any period after those requirements ceased all to be met.

This guidance describes condition A as it applies to shares issued on or after 6 April 2007. The condition applicable to shares issued at earlier times was different, in that the subsidiary requirements have changed from time to time: see the paragraphs which describe the subsidiary requirements for details (these are listed in the table at VCM74320.